Travelzest chief executive Chris Mottershead (pictured) and financial director Colin McKinlay have been lined up to run Tui Travel’s Canadian operation.

TTG understands the pair will announce their intentions at Travelzest’s AGM on April 21, where they will formally hand in their resignations. 

The move comes after a proposed sale of the Aim-listed travel firm fell through last year, seemingly at the last minute. 

Tui was thought to have been close to signing a deal that would have seen Mottershead move to Canada to run the business there, but negotiations fell down.

Analysts at the time questioned the amount Tui was reportedly prepared to pay for the businesses.

Travelzest owns Holiday.co.uk and Flight.co.uk, the operations of which it licensed to the On Holiday Group after closing inhouse operations of their former parent Holiday Express.

Travelzest also owns itravel2000, the largest online travel retailer in Canada, and last year bought luxury cruise retailer The Cruise Professionals in the country.

In its latest preliminary accounts it stated that itravel2000's business was up 21% and claimed subsidiary operators Peng Travel, Best of Morocco and Tapestry Collection were trading well.

Mottershead was managing director of Tui UK between 2001 and 2005, steering the company through difficult times.

He had previously worked in Canada when he was chief executive of North American Leisure Group, Airtours Plc, having originally joined Airtours in 1993 as finance director.

McKinlay was previously chief financial officer for Thomas Cook and prior to that he was at MyTravel, during which time he worked in Canada, where he was chief financial officer of MyTravel’s north American business.